Judge: NASCAR can’t stop AT&T from putting its logo on Burton car

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge says NASCAR can’t stop AT&T from featuring its logo on Jeff Burton’s Chevrolet.

US District Court Judge Marvin Shoob in Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction today. It bars NASCAR and its affiliates from interfering with A-T-and-T’s rights as primary sponsor of the car in NASCAR Cup Series races.

At issue was NASCAR’s decision to prevent the Cingular logo from being changed to the A-T-and-T blue globe logo on Burton’s car now that AT&T is the sole owner of Cingular and is rebranding the cell phone company’s name to AT&T.

Sprint Nextel sponsors NASCAR’s premier series and has exclusive rights as the telecommunications company for the series. Attorneys argued the only exceptions are companies, including Cingular, that already sponsored cars when Nextel reached its agreement with NASCAR.

NASCAR says it’s considering an appeal.

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